I think our hopes of signing Martial died when he signed a new deal at Man Utd. Him doing that means Man Utd hold all the cards now.
While Son does a very good job deputising for Kane I think it would make sense for us to ensure we do have a third option in the squad who is able to play with his back to goal. That may be as simple as just retaining either Llorente or Janssen (I would actually probably prefer the latter due to his age).
A year ago I would’ve been pleased if we had signed Zaha but I don’t think he is a player we should be pursuing now. I don’t dispute that he is a good player and would add something to our squad that we do not really currently have, but I think the combination of his age and likely transfer fee mean that he doesn’t represent good value for us, with there being far greater needs in the squad that the £50+ million of funds could be put towards. I also think that Son has stepped up his game even further this year to become a better first choice option than Zaha anyway.
Assuming Eriksen and Alderweireld can be secured on new contracts then I think all our first team squad needs for next season is 3 players:
A new right back: Max Aarons would be my top target here.
A new left back: Ryan Sessegnon would be my top target here (I think he would only offer cover in the first year but could be converted to a first choice left back for next season and that is fine with Rose’s returning form now that he seems to be fully recovered.
A new central midfielder: Youri Tielemanns please. I have been banging on about him for a few years, since I saw him looking composed in the centre of Anderlecht’s midfield at only 17 years old. I think the reported £40 million fee is great value and he is a player with massive upside.
I reckon the above 3 players would cost about £100 million between them in transfer fees. I would be prepared to sacrifice both Trippier and Lamela from our first team squad in order to help with this, which I think would fund about half of that £100 million. Trippier because he doesn’t have the pace or the confidence/bravery to attempt to beat a player, both of which I think are are needed from our wide players in Poch’s system. Lamela because there is no point in having a player who is only ever available for half of the season.
If Eriksen does not sign a new contract then I agree that Haivertz is the player we should go all out to get to replace him (and if he really could be secured for around £40 million then I would love to see us push the boat out to get him anyway).
If Toby is sold then I think we still need to add another centre half. Unfortunately I don’t think we will be able to afford De Ligt (who will probably be every top club in Europe’s number 1 defensive target). However there seem to have been numerous links to Sampdoria’s Danish centre half Joachim Andersen, who would probably cost only £7 million or so more than the release fee for Alderweireld and he could prove a smart buy for Spurs.
